Lydia Hickman

I didn't go back to college until I was in my late twenties, but before that, I had a small business where I cleaned homes for the elderly and disabled for 5 years. I also know several people personally in my life that have had disabilities of various kinds, so I was well prepared by life to do the position that I'm in now. I went to Maharishi International University in Iowa, where I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Professional and Creative Writing with a specialization in editing. They hired me to edit their course catalog, and then hired me on in an accessibility capacity after that for 2 years in the student life department, where I confirmed students with disabilities were getting accessibility services. After doing accessibility there for 2 years, I decided I wanted to get a certification to do my job even better, so I went to IAAP and got my CPACC (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies), which is an internationally recognized certification that allows me to do work in accessibility in many different fields. Now I'm at Tri-C, which is lovely, and they are very providing in professional development opportunities. I also do a lot of work with Ohio Ahead, which is specifically accessibility for higher education. One of my most notable achievements is that I just completely rewrote our accessibility handbook for faculty members for the whole college, which was published this semester. It incorporates my professional editing experience with my accessibility expertise, and I'm very proud of that. The people in my life that I have known over the years who have disabilities are what inspired me to get into this field - they are inspiring as well.